The Cyclones have dominated their non-conference schedule so far with efficient pitching and timely hitting.

Their first real test comes this weekend when they travel to Arizona for the Hillenbrand Invitational.

The Cyclones will face defending national champion and 10th-ranked Arizona (6-4), 24th-ranked Virginia Tech (9-4), South Florida (8-5) and Illinois-Chicago (2-7) in games beginning on Friday.

Arizona is led by All-American pitcher Taryne Mowatt. Last year, she went 42-12 with 522 strikeouts and had an earned run average of 1.46. She won two ESPY awards for Best Female Athlete and for Best Female College Athlete.

The Wildcats are coached by Mike Candrea, who has won the Pac 10 Coach of the Year award ten times. His career coaching record is 1131-228-2, 340-92-1 in the Pac 10 conference.

Despite losing three of their top hitters from last year, Arizona is still one of the most dangerous teams in the nation. The Wildcats have already knocked off No. 12 LSU and No. 13 Baylor this season. Three of Arizona’s losses have come against high-ranked teams, including No. 3 Texas A&M, No. 7 Northwestern and the United States Women’s National team led by former Wildcats Jennie Finch, Lovie Jung, Alicia Hollowell and Caitlin Lowe.

The game against Arizona will provide the team’s first ranked opponent this season. Current Wildcat players K’Lee Arredondo, Lindsey Sisk and Brittany Lastrapes played on the United States Junior Women’s National team last summer.

“It’s going to be an eye-opener for us because they’re good, but the Big 12 conference is pretty tough and I think this game will help prepare us for conference games,” Johnson said. “We look forward to playing them because we know we’re going to surprise a lot of people.”